Philadelphia Renewable

When it comes to finding new sources of energy, the days of waiting until “things get bad enough” are over. The fact that much of oil used in the US comes from politically unstable areas, combined with rising oil costs, environmental concerns, and the recent BP oil spill, is creating an increasing demand for new sources of energy. Philadelphia is a city doing its part to solve the energy crisis. Biofuel is gaining attention as an alternative fuel possibility because it takes waste products and creates them into a cleaner burning fuel. Biodiesel is made by using either soybean oil, poultry waste or used fryer oil in a chemical process that alters the molecules in the oil. After the original product has been altered, it can either be combined with diesel fuel or used completely in replace of diesel. Any diesel engine can use this product, though some engines require slight modification. By creating a fuel type from a renewable resource and making it into a fuel burning cleaner than oil, it achieves environmental efficiency.One Philadelphia company, now called BlackGold Biofuels, has taken on a whole new role in this industry. Instead of using recycled vegetable oil which can actually be used in other industries such as for animal feed, BlackGold began using trap grease, which is the foul, undesirable substance that goes down the drain and can be found in sewers. The use of trap grease was and still is relatively new to the industry and the company had to come up with their own method of cleaning and using this grease. BlackGold’s work in this field has earned them much recognition as well as federal grant money.BlackGold is just one of many biodiesel companies in the Philadelphia area doing their part to create a more sustainable America.

No Comments »